Main opposition leader Kılıçdaroğlu promises to bring back İstanbul Convention

* Photo: Anadolu Agency (AA) - File

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Main opposition Republican People's Party (CHP) Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu spoke at the weekly group meeting of the CHP on March 8 International Women's Day yesterday and promised Turkey's return to the İstanbul Convention if they win the upcoming elections in 2023.

Kılıçdaroğlu said, "We want to live in a Turkey where we share our sorrows and joys, where there is no distinction between women and men and where no one is otherized. I promise: Turkey will surely embrace one another; Turkey will definitely make amends, it will grow. Democracy will surely come to Turkey and the İstanbul Convention will definitely enter into force".

Marking March 8 Women's Day, CHP Chair Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu also talked about the bans on women's feminist night march:

"It is women who bear the brunt of life, who look for a job because their children are unemployed, who cannot go outside freely at night and it is men who introduce a ban on women who think of holding a march by coming together once a year to make their rights and expectations heard by society. The ones who do not know what democracy is are doing this. The ones who are trying to deprive women of their rights are doing this..."

Referring to the ongoing war in Ukraine following Russia's invasion on February 24, 2022, Kemal Kılıçdaroğlu said:

"And Ukrainian women... The world and humanity do not deserve this tragedy. The sides must come together and reach an agreement. They are killed with guns, they are killed with bombs. We don't accept such brutality in the 21st century's world. Women bear the brunt of life, but they know how to hold on to life with resistance and overcome difficulties."

'Women suffer high costs of living the most'

Further in his speech, Kılıçdaroğlu briefly said:

"We wanted women to be a powerful part of every area of life. We wanted to ensure that half of the Parliament are women and the other half are men. We said, 'Let's amend the Law on Political Parties and ensure that the structure of the Parliament shows our demographic structure'.

"The proposal was drafted and sent to nearly 400 women's organizations; recommendations were made and the draft was finalized. We submitted it to the General Assembly. Let me say this: This proposal was rejected by the AK Party and MHP, including their women MPs.

"Women are the ones who are suffering from high costs of living the most. No one can understand the tragedy of a mother who gives her child a piece of bread with some tomato paste spread on it because she cannot put anything else inside the bread. [...] Turkey must get rid of this grave picture as soon as possible. And in order to do this, the ballot box must come. They are resisting, but one day, the ballot box will come and we will change the fate of Turkey all together as women and men."

Turkey's withdrawal from the İstanbul Convention

Turkey has withdrawn from the İstanbul Convention with a Presidential decision published in the Official Gazette on March 20, 2021.

The decision in question said that "the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence, which was signed by Turkey on May 11, 2011 and approved with the Cabinet Decree no. 2012/2816 on February 10, 2012, shall be terminated on the part of Turkey as per the Article 3 of the Presidential Decree no. 9."

The 10th Chamber of the Council of State finalized the court cases demanding the stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision withdrawing Turkey from the İstanbul Convention ahead of July 1, when the İstanbul Convention will no longer be in force in Turkey, according to the Article 80 of the Convention regarding denunciation.

By a vote of three to two, the 10th Chamber of the Council of State has rejected the requests for the stay of execution and annulment of the Presidential decision, which has pulled Turkey out of the İstanbul Convention, or the Council of Europe Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence. (AS/SD)